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(29).."CHIP STROKE SAVER"

This little shot has done more to take strokes off my game than any other. Referred to often as the "bump and run" used properly you will become deadly from 20 yards in and instead of twenty foot putts, they'll be telling you "that's good pick it up".

The object of a chip shot is for the ball to travel fairly low to the ground, staying in the air long enough to get over the fringe and land on the putting green. Once on the green the ball travels the rest of it's journey in much the same fashion as a putt. i.e. rolling along the surface.

Here are 5 easy steps to help you develop the correct "Bump N Run" technique.

Take a 7 iron and set up as if you were to make a regular shot.

1....Move your feet forward until the ball is on the back side of your right foot.

2...Move closer to the ball and at the same time tilt the club shaft toward the target ( About 45 degrees ) and slide your hands down to the bottom of the grip.

3...Imagine the club face is pointing at 12 o'clock and your belt buckle is pointing at 3 o'clock. Now turn your whole body until your belt buckle is pointing at 2 o'clock (open stance).

4...Most of your body weight should be positioned on your left foot. Try to do this by tilting your upper body to your left. Try standing with your right foot on a brick. This forces you to get your weight forward. Keep your weight on this foot all of the way through the swing. Don't transfer your weight to the back foot and then forward again as you would in a normal swing.

5...As opposed to a normal swing, your wrists should "REMAIN STIFF" during the entire chipping swing. This keeps your hands ahead of the ball, taking loft of the club, allowing you to keep the ball low and make the ball to roll when it lands. Grip the club a little firmer than normal to assure that your wrists do not bend. Your stroke is very similar to the putting stroke, no body turn, just a pendulum from the shoulders down.

Practice....With a 7 iron..Just make a stroke of 1 foot back and 1 foot past impact.Pretend you are putting a 5 footer. You will be surprised how far the ball flies off the club face. Do this in the back yard until you get the feel of the shot, then try it around the practice green to see how the ball rolls once it gets to the green. Believe me this is a major stroke saver.

The best clubs to use when chipping are the 7, 9, and PW. If you use the same swing and land the ball on the same spot, you should notice a difference of about 10 feet between each of these clubs. i.e. the 7 iron will roll 10 feet further than your 9 iron etc.



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(30).."USING WEDGES"

Your wedge game can be improved. Here's some secrets: You're never going to be able to hit the ball perfectly every time. When using a wedge, we know that a green in reg or an up and down is our goal--not holing out. With this goal, we can be much more forgiving of our stroke imperfections. Within the limitations of normal imperfections however, there's a lot you can do to tailor a shot.

Setup... Set up is one of those parts of a wedge shot that does not waver. Gripping down about one or two inches and standing closer to the ball a couple of inches will add control. Slightly open your stance and have your weight equally distributed. Keep your grip tight but allow for an easy touch and feel of the shot.

Swing... This is an attenuated manifestation of your normal full swing. Your wrist break should be none for number one below and limited to numbers two and three. Remember that your upper body's movements are the leader of the lower body's motion. Use a descending blow. With these basics, you're ready for shot making. There's three standard wedge scenarios.

One... A bump and run. When you have a lot of green to work with or you're shooting uphill, have the ball positioned even or behind your right foot. Have your hands in front of the ball with club face squared to the line to the target opened stance. You keep your wrists and arms stiff and make a putting stroke. On impact, your hands should be ahead of the club head. This yields a low shot that gets up quick and rolls.

two.. If you have not so much green available, you need a higher flying shot that flies as much as it rolls. To make this shot, have the ball in the center of your stance with your hands right in the middle. Open the face a bit during address. Now you want your hands and club to reach the ball at the same time. This gives you a softer shot that doesn't roll so much--about as much as it flies.

three... If you have to really get the ball high and stop quickly with little roll. Then move the ball forward, almost opposite your left heel. Your clubhead should reach the ball before your hands.This shot will stop the ball were it hits with very little or no forward movement.



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(31).."READING GREENS (1)"

Preparation plays an important role in the success or failure or every putt.

On the greens, you must first study (read) your putt to determine the amount of break, the slope and how much speed you'll need. Always make your initial read from behind the hole looking back down the target line to your ball. From here you will see the general direction of the break. Give special attention to the area around the hole because the effect of the break is more pronounced as your ball slows down.

Also check your line for ball marks, pebbles and anything else that might knock your ball off line. Once you have established the dominant break, move to the low side of the putt to determine the amount of slope and its inclination.

When you stand on top of a mountain and look down at the valley, it looks flat but when you stand at the base and look up, you can see the slope and inclination. Take care to stand equidistant from the ball, target line and the cup in order to maintain your perspective. This triangulation gives you a much truer reading.

Your final read is from behind the ball. Here, determine your line and select the spot (as in bowling) to roll your ball over. Also, in lining up behind the ball, stand on the line on which you want your ball to start. For straight putts, this is the target line, but to give you the proper perspective for a putt that curves, stand on a curved line or arc of the putt - not on the target line.



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(32).."READING GREENS (2)"

Good putting also requires reading the grain. The direction in which the grass grows, or what is commonly referred to as the grain, affects the distance and direction of your putt.

When you are practicing, you can test the grain by lightly dragging your putter across the grass. If the grass stands up, you've scraped your putter against the grain; if it stays down, you are with the grain. When you're playing, the rules of golf don't permit you to test the greens in this manner, but you can test the collar or apron without penalty. Just make sure it's the same kind of grass as the putting surface before you include the information in your reading.

Grain effects both the curve and speed of your putt. Putting directly against the grain slows your putt down; putting with the grain adds speed. If the grain runs across the line of your putt in the same direction as the slope of the green, it increases the break as the ball slows down.

Note that side-grain slows down your putt almost as much as putting straight into the grain. Tropical climate grasses, such as Bermuda, grow westward toward the setting sun. The characteristically thick, coarse Bermuda grows in an upward swirl and its grain is strong and influential on the speed and direction of your putts. The finer-leafed grasses, such as Bent, lie down and grain is not a major factor. This type of grass is common in cooler climates and what little grain it has often grows toward the natural water supply.

When the sun shines on a green you can judge the direction of the grain by the appearance of the grass. If the grass looks dark and dull, the grain is growing toward you. If the grass looks shiny, the grain is growing away from you.



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(33).."BALL BELOW YOUR FEET"

...When the ball is below your feet, your swing is more upright so your club face tends to point to the right of the target at impact, curving your shot from left to right. Absent corrections, you can expect a shot that flies low and right.

Prior to arranging your feet, sole your club flush with the slope, so that is more upright than normal. This establishes your swing plane and your posture at address. The upright position puts the club on its toe and aims the club face right.

Since the ball is farther from you, the bottom of your arc occurs later in your swing, so to catch the ball solidly and give your club face time to square up, move the ball forward in your stance. This points your shoulders left, offsetting the tendency for the ball to start right of your target.

When the ball is below your feet, it is actually farther away from you, so stand closer, with a wider stance and more knee flex to lower your self to the ball. Pinch your knees in and turn your feet in to minimize side-to-side motion. Settle your weight onto your heels and into the hillside to further anchor your lower body.

Because the hill pulls you forward onto your toes as you swing back to the ball, you need to stay on your heels from start to finish.

1...Sole the club to establish your swing plane and posture.

2...Stand closer to the ball.

3...Move the ball forward in your stance from where you would normally position it for a level lie.

4...Widen your stance, pigeon toe your feet and flex your knees into the hill.

5...Make a three-quarter motion concentrating on keeping your balance throughout the swing.



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(34).."ABOUT THE GOLF SWING"

...The swing plane is key element in creating a powerful swing. An ideal plane for a golf swing falls between perfectly flat and perfectly upright. To a great extent the distance the person stands from the ball dictates the plane of your swing on which a golfer swings. The farther away the ball is from the golfer's feet, the flatter-more horizontal- will be his or her swing plane.

When driving, the golfer stands relatively far from the ball because they are is using the longest club in the bag. On short-iron shots you stand closer to the ball simply because you are using a shorter club. Thus the plane of a swing with a driver is flatter than the with, say, a 9-iron.

Unusually tall golfers tend to address shots with the ball closer to their feet than do relatively short golfers. Thus tall golfers naturally swing on a more upright plane than do short players. The amount that a golfer bends forward at the waist also influences his or her swing plane. The more you bend forward - so long as your back remains relatively straight - the more upright will be your swing plane.

To take two extremes, if a golfer did not bend at all from the waist - stood perfectly upright - to turn your body at all you would have to turn your shoulders and move the club on a more-or-less perfectly horizontal plane. A golfer who bent so much at the waist that his or her back was parallel to the ground would necessarily swing on practically a perfectly upright or vertical plane.

The recommended swing plane tends to be more vertical than horizontal. A more upright plane keeps the clubhead moving along the target line for a relatively longer duration than would a flatter swing plane. To achieve an ideal swing plane the ball, shoulders, and hands are on the same line at the top of the swing. If your swing is below this ideal plane line then your swing is too flat, conversely, if it is above the line it is too vertical.

Any golfer who gains a clear understanding of the fundamentals of the golf swing plane and who will then devote time to practice is well on their way to developing a sound, powerful, and consistent golf game.



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(35).."DIFFICULT LIES: HARD PAN

.... When the ball comes to rest on a patch of rock-hard ground with no grass to prop it up, the last thing you want is your club head bouncing into the center of the ball causing a skulled shot that runs out of control.

To play this type of lie correctly, select a sand or pitching wedge and position the ball according to the trajectory you need:

1..Forward for a high soft shot.

2..Center for a standard pitch.

3..Back for a low, running pitch.

As with the thin lie, move close enough to the ball so the club head is standing on its toe with the club shaft as vertical as possible. Thus you eliminate any angle in your left wrist, making sure that your club head won't drop any lower through impact than it was at address.

Set your feet according to the length of the shot you intend to play: wide and square for a long shot, and progressively more open and narrow the shorter you want to hit the ball. To shorten the distance your shot flies, open your stance by dropping your left foot back from the target line with your club face slightly to the right of the target.

For the swing use your pitching action.



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(36).."DIFFICULT LIES: BURIED IN THE SAND

... When your ball is buried in grass, your club should rest on its heel, with the toe of the club off the ground, just opposite of the hard pan set up. By setting the club on the heel, the bounce of the club is increased along with the potential hitting surface. This increased surface area helps your club head plow through the grass, helping you make solid contact.

When you stand farther from the ball your hands hang lower, presetting your wrists, and creating a steeper angle of attack so that the grass behind the ball has less effect on the shot. Also by lowering your hands, your shoulders tilt more as they swing, producing a more upright back swing that adds to the cutting action of your swing - just what you need to carve your ball out of the grass.

When your club is on its heel, be sure to position the ball in the middle of the club face to avoid the possibility of a shank.

The deep grass tends to grab the neck of your club, twisting your club face to a closed position at impact. This causes a pulled shot left of the target so aim to the right to compensate for the pull. And of course you have to swing harder than you normally would with a firmer grip pressure that helps you retain control of your club, as it encounters the resistance of the grass.



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(37).."THE COLLAR SHOT

....Every once and a while your ball stops against the first cut of rough just off the green. It's hard to judge this shot because using a normal chip or pitch, you're denied clean contact with the ball due to the intervening grass.

A three wood adapted like a chipping iron is an excellent choice in this situation. The weight and mass of your three wood head insures that the club slides through the grass to contact the ball crisply. As in chipping, raise your three wood on its toe, close the face and grip down on it with your putting grip. Assume a narrow, open stance and stroke the ball as you would a putt of equal distance. Expect your ball to hop a little and then roll to the hole like a putt.

Another solution is to choose a putter and address the ball so that the toe of your putter aims at the top of the ball. The key to this shot is to strike the ball squarely with a firm tapping stroke, keeping the toe going at the hole during the follow through.

You can also play this shot by striking the middle of the ball with the leading edge of your sand wedge. This way your club face never touches the ball so you don't have to worry about the grass getting between your club face and the ball. To "belly" the ball so that it rolls with a good deal of top spin, use your putting motion with absolutely no wrist action. Just set your weight on your left side and hover the edge of your sand wedge behind the equator of the ball, then make a smooth stroke.

When your ball is just off the green, ignore the markings on your clubs and play the shot with the club that gets the job done. Your goal is to keep the ball on the ground whenever you can so you might choose a fairway wood, a five iron, a sand wedge or a putter to get the ball close to the hole.



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